My current book project, “Making Sense of Martial Law,” approaches culture and performance as part of the ongoing production of political affects. It focuses on the history of martial law in the Philippines—the 21-year-long dictatorial rule of former President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda (1965-1986) as well as a time when U.S.- and Philippines-based activists and artists worked against this state of exception. Through a sensory history of martial law, “Making Sense” analyzes how the Marcoses employed the sensorial and sensational as part of their New Society program and how U.S.- and Philippines-based performances, events, and cultural objects critiqued the “Marcosian imaginary,” modeling new forms of cultural memory. I am also finishing up work on an artistic and scholarly collection, co-edited with Lucy San Pablo Burns (Asian American Studies, UCLA), entitled: “California Dreaming: Movement & Place in the Asian American Imaginary” (University of Hawai’i Press, forthcoming). And I look forward to starting research on the intersections between Asian American studies and sound studies for a future special journal issue.

Previous positions:

Associate Professor, Asian American Studies, University of California Irvine, 2008-2015

The vibrant and welcoming intellectual community, collaborating with esteemed colleagues across fields and disciplines, being in conversation with bright and inspiring students, exploring and engaging the exceptional Filipino studies section of the library’s Southeast Asia collection, bridging campus life with writers, performers, and filmmakers from New York and beyond.